1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to surgical drapes for procedures in which a patient's appendage is being operated on and more specifically to surgical drapes for use in hip replacement procedures.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In surgical procedures, it is usually necessary to drape a portion of a patient's body and to leave another portion of the patient's body exposed. A major reason for draping a patient's body is to prevent infection by providing a sterile field around the operative site. In a hip replacement procedure, it is generally desirable to drape the patient's entire body leaving only the hip area exposed. Several drapes have been designed to accomplish this purpose. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,609 to McConnell describes a surgical drape having a fenestration for the hip area through which a patient's leg is inserted. The patient's leg is then covered with a boot made from a conformable impervious material. The boot has a tubular side wall which is joined to the main sheet of the drape. One disadvantage of a drape of this type is that it may be difficult to insert the patient's leg through the boot of the drape. Thus, a need exists to provide a drape which is easier to arrange over the patient's leg and is more versatile with regard to positioning of the patient.
Another surgical drape used in hip replacement procedures is s described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,120 to Grier-Idris. This drape includes a main sheet having a fenestration through which a patient's leg is inserted. To one side of the fenestration is a pocket which is generally attached on three sides to the main sheet of the drape and which includes an opening on the fourth side, adjacent the fenestration, into which a patient's leg can be inserted. While this drape provides much needed versatility and ease in placement of a patient's appendage, one disadvantage of the drape is that any fluids, surgical instruments or surgical debris can easily enter into the pocket. This can be cumbersome during a surgical procedure in which large amounts of irrigation fluids are used or whenever sponges or other surgical instruments are inadvertently dropped into the pocket of the drape. Large amounts of irrigation fluid can weigh down the drape and keep the patient's appendage undesirably moist. Any surgical sponges or other medical instruments which drop into the pocket must be removed prior to the completion of the surgical procedure for counting in order to ensure that they have not been left in a patient.
Another disadvantage of a pocket of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,120 is that the lower portion of the pocket is attached to the main sheet of the surgical drape. This means that if it is desired to elevate a patient's leg during the surgical procedure, the entire drape in the vicinity of the pocket will be raised. This can undesirably compromise the sterility of the surgical field. Even if the sterility of the surgical field is not compromised, the attachment of the lower portion of the pocket to the main drape reduces the mobility of the patient's appendage. Mobility of a patient's leg during a hip replacement procedure is important because a surgeon will frequently wish to manipulate a patient's leg during the surgical procedure to allow the insertion of the prosthetic hip and ensure that the prosthesis is functioning properly.
Another disadvantage of the drape described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,120 is that the main sheet of the drape and the pocket are permanently attached to one another along at least a portion of the periphery of the pocket. Thus, it is not possible to use the pocket with a simple drape having only a fenestration or with a pair of U-shaped drapes. Such drapes are preferred by some surgeons during a hip replacement procedure. Therefore, a need existed to be able to provide a pocket for accommodating a patient's leg when such drapes are used.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for accommodating a patient's leg during a hip replacement procedure in which the device also includes a means for retaining irrigation fluid, surgical instruments, and surgical debris in a separate pouch.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a flexible device which can be removably attached to one or both sides of a fenestration on the main sheet of a surgical drape in which a first big pouch can be used to accommodate a patient's leg and a second smaller pouch can be used to retain irrigation fluids, surgical instruments and surgical debris. Specifically, it is also an object of the invention to be able to close off the opening of the big pouch when it is not being used while still being able to control and retain irrigation fluids and the like.
Still yet another object of the subject invention is to provide a surgical drape having a big pocket for accommodating a patient's leg in which the leg and pocket can be manipulated without manipulating the portion of the main sheet of the drape that underlies the big pocket.
Another object of the subject invention is to provide a smaller fluid-retaining pocket inside a big pocket in which the openings of each pocket can be releasably attached to one another and in which one or more of the openings are provided with a stiffening means to enhance the placement of the pockets with respect to a patient's leg.